1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to an electrical connector assembly, and more particularly to a flexible printed circuit (FPC) electrical connector assembly.
2. Description of Related Art
Flexible printed circuit connectors are widely used in electronic devices such as mobile telephones, keyboards, hard disk drives and fax machines etc. The article named  less than History of FFC/FPC greater than  recorded in http://www.avxcorp.com/docs/Catalogs/ffchist.pdf introduces the constitution of the flexible printed circuit, the terminal design of the flexible printed circuit electrical connector assembly and the development trend of several flexible printed circuit electrical connectors mounted onto printed circuit boards. However, the conventional flexible printed circuit electrical connector assemblies are complicated in structure and the connectors have a low locating precise to the flexible printed circuits.
For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,580,272, 5,695,360 and 6,280,217 each disclose such an electrical connector. The connectors usually comprise an insulative housing and a cover pivoted in the insulative housing. When the cover is located in a first position, the end portion of the flexible printed circuit is inserted into a receiving space of the insulative housing, then rotating the cover to the second position and achieving an electrical connection between the flexible printed circuit and the electrical connector by pressing the cover. However, the electrical connectors are only used in the flexible printed circuits having conductive contact pads in one side, furthermore the whole connectors are complex in structure and have a low locating precise to the flexible printed circuits.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,764 discloses two connecting means used between a flexible printed circuit and a mother board. The first connecting means is an elastic member having two screw holes. When the elastic member is assembled onto the mother board, the contact pads of the end of the flexible printed circuit and the contact pads of the mother board are squeezed together by means of the elastic member and achieving an electrical connection between both. Although the connecting means is simple in structure, the connecting means is complicated to assemble and must resort to an auxiliary tool to locate the end portion of the flexible printed circuit. Additionally, the connecting means can""t use in the occasion of limited assembly space. The second connecting means is an electrical connector assembly including a plug and a receptacle connector. The electrical connector assembly has disadvantages such as complexity in configuration, complication in assembly and high costs.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,831 discloses another connecting device between a flexible printed circuit and a mother board and having a receptacle connector and a guiding member. First, the flexible printed circuit is bent as a U shape and juxtaposed into a slot of the receptacle connector, then an insertion portion of the guiding member is inserted to a U-shaped recess formed in the flexible printed circuit and achieving an electrical connection between the flexible printed circuit and the receptacle connector by means of the squeezing of the insertion portion. Nevertheless, the flexible printed circuit itself has a certain flexibility so that it can""t be well located when juxtaposed in the slot of the receptacle connector. Additionally, the insertion portion may be also affect the locating effect of the flexible printed circuit during the inserting process and thereby affecting the electrical transmission.
Hence, it is requisite to provide an electrical connector element which is simple in structure, convenient to assemble and can secure the exact connection between a flexible printed circuit and a receptacle connector.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector assembly which is simple in structure and convenient to assemble and directly achieving an reliable electrical connection between a flexible printed circuit and a receptacle connector.
In order to achieve the objective set forth, an electrical connector assembly in accordance with the present invention comprises a receptacle connector, a clamping device and a flexible printed circuit having a edge with a plurality of conductive elements thereon. The receptacle connector comprises an insulative housing defining a central slot in a top surface thereof and a plurality of terminal passageways receiving a corresponding plurality of conductive terminals. The clamping device comprises two clamping panels and two connecting sections downwardly extend from two ends of the clamping panels. The clamping device defines a space between the clamping panels and the edge of the flexible printed circuit being received in the space. The edge of the flexible printed circuit and the connecting section of the clamping device are inserted into the central slot of the insulative housing, and the conductive elements on the flexible printed circuit contacting the respective terminals. The clamping panels of the clamping device clamp the flexible printed circuit and the connecting sections thereof engaging with the housing.